Freedom Fighters: The Ray
| based_on = | voices = | composer = Daniel James Chan | country = United States | language = English | num_seasons = 2 | num_episodes = 12 | list_episodes = #Episodes | executive_producer = | producer = Curt Geda | editor = Kyle Stafford | runtime = 6–8 minutes | company = | network = CW Seed | first_aired = | last_aired = | related = Arrowverse }} Freedom Fighters: The Ray is an American animated web series developed by Greg Berlanti and Marc Guggenheim. It premiered on December 8, 2017 on The CW's online streaming platform, CW Seed and is based on DC Comics character Ray Terrill / The Ray (portrayed by Russell Tovey), a reporter who gains light-based powers after being exposed to a genetic light bomb. The series is part of the Arrowverse franchise and is primarily set on the dystopian Earth-X, while also partly taking place on Earth-1, the parallel fictional universe of Arrow, The Flash, Vixen and Legends of Tomorrow. Premise Raymond "Ray" Terrill is a lawyer who discovers a doppelganger of himself from another Earth. The man disappears, and gives him light-based powers, and he is recruited to join the Freedom Fighters. Cast and characters Main * Russell Tovey as Ray Terrill / The Ray: A public interest lawyer who gains light-based powers from his Earth-X counterpart and becomes a member of the Freedom Fighters on Earth-X. ** Tovey also voices his Earth-X counterpart who is a member of the Freedom Fighters on Earth-X.Episode 1Episode 3 * Jason Mitchell as John Trujillo: A co-worker of Terrill's that helps him learn about his new found powers. ** Mitchell also voices his Earth-X counterpart, Black Condor, who is member of the Freedom Fighters * Dilshad Vadsaria as Jenny Knight: A co-worker of Terrill's. ** Vadsaria also voices her Earth-X counterpart, Phantom Lady, who is a member of the Freedom Fighters. Recurring * Melissa Benoist as Overgirl: An alternate supervillain version of Earth-38 Supergirl who is a member of the New Reichsmen on Earth-X. * Iddo Goldberg as Red Tornado of Earth-X: A member of the Freedom Fighters. * Matthew Mercer as Black Arrow: An alternate version of the Earth-1 Green Arrow who is a member of the New Reichsmen. He is called Dark Arrow in "Crisis on Earth-X". ** Mercer also voices his Earth-1 counterpart, Oliver Queen / Green Arrow. * Scott Whyte as Blitzkrieg: An alternate version of the Earth-1 Flash who is a member of the New Reichsmen on Earth-X. ** Whyte also voices his Earth-1 counterpart, Barry Allen / Flash. * Carlos Valdes as Cisco Ramon / Vibe of Earth-X: A member of the Freedom Fighters. ** Valdes also voices his Earth-1 counterpart. * Sunil Malhotra as Jacob: Ray's original lover. Guest * Matthew Mercer as Dollman * Colleen O'Shaughnessey as Grace Terrill * Bruce Thomas as Robert Terrill * Danielle Panabaker as Caitlin Snow: A bioengineering expert from S.T.A.R. Labs. * Christopher Corey Smith as Donald: A politician. * Megalyn Echikunwoke as Mari McCabe / Vixen * Echo Kellum as Curtis Holt / Mister Terrific Episodes Season 1 (2017) | ShortSummary = In Tulsa, Oklahoma, Ray Terrill / The Ray and the Freedom Fighters work to save refugees in Nazi-occupied Earth-X. The New Reichsmen, consisting of leader Overgirl, Blitzkrieg, and Black Arrow, overpower the Freedom Fighters, killing Red Tornado and Dollman. The Reichmen attempt to steal the former’s cerebral cortex, but the Ray, wounded, is breached away by fellow Freedom Fighter, Vibe. On Earth-1, the counterparts of the Freedom Fighters John Trujillo / Black Condor, Jenny Knight / Phantom Lady, and the Ray are Fair Housing Department employees. When the department is shut down, Ray and John go to a bar where Ray fails to ask a man on a date. As Ray struggles with his recent unemployment and avoids coming out to his conservative parents, the Ray from Earth-X emerges through a breach and hands the cortex off to his Earth-1 counterpart, along with his powers, before succumbing to his injuries. Ray shows John his powers and the cortex, which reveals Earth-X’s dire situation via a hologram of Red Tornado, who directs them to destroy it. Instead, John and Ray decide to test the latter’s powers, which alerts S.T.A.R. Labs’ Cisco Ramon and Caitlin Snow of metahuman activity. John and Ray go back to the bar and Ray strikes up a conversation with the man, Jacob. As Ray and Jacob are walking down the street, they discover a lesbian couple being mugged. Jacob goes for help and Ray uses his powers to take the mugger down. While fighting a pair of bank robbers, Ray takes on "The Ray" mantle. On Earth-X, Vibe searches for signatures of the Ray, but is ambushed by the Reichsmen, who are then able to pinpoint the location of the cortex. On Earth-1, as Ray prepares for a date with Jacob, he is sedated by a poisoned dart and two shadowy figures appear over him. | LineColor = 76382F }} }} Season 2 (2018) | ShortSummary = | LineColor = FCF538 }} }} Production The series was first announced on August 2016 by The CW with a 2017 debut and to air on CW Seed, from executive producers Greg Berlanti and Marc Guggenheim and developed by Blue Ribbon Content. It was also announced that the lead character would be gay, and the network was looking for an actor to voice the character with the possibility of appearing in live-action later on. The series was inspired by Grant Morrison's Multiversity comic book series. Guggenheim noted there was "a very specific reason" the series was titled as it was, in order to introduce the Freedom Fighters and Earth-X. He continued, "Morrison came up with an idea we really responded to: The Freedom Fighters are made up of various minorities targeted by Nazis—women, gay men, Jews. We wanted to honor that idea. At the same time, it's an origin story about the Earth-1 iteration of The Ray." Earth-X is a world in the multiverse where the Nazis won World War II and the New Reichsmen rule over present day America. In September 2017, it was revealed that Russell Tovey would be voicing Ray Terrill in the series. Freedom Fighters: The Ray is also set prior to the events of the 2017 live-action Arrowverse crossover, "Crisis on Earth-X". Guggenheim added that the animated series featured some "continuity mix-ups... and inconsistencies", as "Crisis on Earth-X" was conceived after Freedom Fighters was already written and Guggenheim "didn't see eye-to-eye" with fellow crossover executive producer Andrew Kreisberg on how tightly the animated series should tie-in with "Crisis on Earth-X"; Guggenheim hoped to address these with a comic book. On the series being a prequel to the crossover, Guggenheim revealed that it was not intended to be such, and was originally intended to be released before the crossover. However, once the decision was made to feature The Ray in live-action, it necessitated the casting of the correct actor, which lead to Tovey. Guggenheim explained: At that point, "we could either just continue to go forward as we already were with the animated series with a different voice and a slightly different look to the character of the Ray, or we could take the extra time to have Russell voice the character, do some design alterations, make the Ray's appearance in the animated series line up more with the way Russell actually looks. There was just no way to turn those kind of changes around and release it before the crossover. It was just more important to have Russell's voice in the series than it was to get it out early". Release as the live-action version of The Ray / Ray Terrill.]] Freedom Fighters: The Ray premiered on CW Seed on December 8, 2017, releasing the first six episodes of the series. The next six episodes, marketed as the second season, was released on July 18, 2018, after debuting at the 2018 San Diego Comic-Con. Home media In June 2018, it was announced that the first two seasons would be made available as one feature-length presentation on Blu-ray and DVD starting on August 28, 2018. Reception Oliver Sava of The A.V. Club gave the first three episodes a "B" rating. He felt "the story has an interesting structure, beginning with two episodes showing the dire situation on Earth-X before making a sudden jump across dimensions for the third episode," but noted that it makes "The Ray feel like a supporting character in his own show". Sava praised the conflicts in Ray's personal life "that are largely unexplored in the superhero genre, especially in film and television," with the show showing "how they can quickly add tension and depth to fantastic narratives". Regarding Tovey's performance, Sava said, "Tovey does strong work capturing Ray's anxiety and fear about coming out, and you can hear his disappointment in himself as he tries and fails to embrace his sexuality." Luke Y. Thompson of Forbes gave a favorable review of the Blu-Ray release. He stated that it was "the most emotionally stirring of all the DC animated movies he'd seen and reviewed." Thompson praised the animation saying it was "better than usual too, with more cel-shading on CG to give vistas real depth." Arrowverse Tovey appeared as The Ray in "Crisis on Earth-X" in November 2017, the Arrowverse crossover event between Supergirl, Arrow, The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow. Additional concepts and characters from Freedom Fighters were featured in the crossover. In November 2019, DC announced that they would be producing two tie-in comic books, to accompany the Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover event. These will include a storyline running concurrently to the on-screen episodes, focusing on the characters of The Ray, Felicity Smoak, Nyssa Al Ghul and Wally West. The first comic book will be released in December 2019, with the second released in January 2020. References }} Season 1 episodes * 6 minutes * 6 minutes * 8 minutes * 6 minutes * 6 minutes * 6 minutes External links * * * Category:2010s American animated television series Category:2010s American science fiction television series Category:2017 American television series debuts Category:American animated web series Category:Animated action television series Category:Animated adventure television series Category:Animated science fiction television series Category:Animated superhero television series Category:Animated television programs based on DC Comics Category:Dystopian television series Category:English-language television programs Category:Flash (comics) in other media Category:Green Arrow in other media Category:LGBT-related animated series Category:Nazis in fiction Category:Television series by Warner Bros. Animation Category:Television shows set in Tulsa, Oklahoma Category:Television shows set in New York City Category:Television series by Blue Ribbon Content